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Melati Kusuma (Earth-616)
; formerly , , Initiative recruit, | Relatives = | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = Arizona; Formerly Camp Hammond | Gender = Female | Height = 4'3" | Height2 = (as human; 5'8" as Komodo) | Weight = 110 lbs | Weight2 = (as human; 148 lbs as Komodo) | Eyes = Brown | Eyes2 = (as human; solid amber as Komodo) | Hair = Black | Hair2 = (as human; none as Komodo) | UnusualSkinColour = Green | UnusualFeatures = In human form, she is missing both legs. In lizard form, she has a more reptilian appearance, including claws, a tail and a crest. | CharRef = | Citizenship = American | MaritalStatus = Single | Occupation = Vigilante; former licensed super hero | Education = BS (unspecified); graduate studies at Empire State University (incomplete) | Origin = Took a version of the Lizard's serum. | PlaceOfBirth = | Creators = Dan Slott; Stefano Caselli | First = Avengers: The Initiative #1 | HistoryText = Komodo was one of Dr. Curt Conner's students at the university. Having lost both her legs earlier in life and eager to regain them, she stole the serum that enabled Connors to transform into the Lizard and modified it so that it would work on her. She was registered by Conners and been made a trainee for the Initiative at Camp Hammond. Though Pym and Rhodes were initially concerned about her aptitude as a superhero due to the circumstances under which she obtained her powers, she became one of the most successful recruits, and was sent into the field to neutralize Spider-Man by injecting him with S.P.I.N. nanites. She nearly succeeded, but was severely shaken when Spider-Man managed to stun her and escape. She began dating her Initiative teammate Hardball. While fighting an insane KIA, he used his Tactigon to infect her with poison so potent that it would kill her before she could regenerate. In a desperate gamble to save her, Hardball used his power to sever her poisoned legs, stopping the poison before it can travel to the rest of her body. Although he manages to save her, this solution is especially painful for her as she is a former amputee who lost her legs once before. When Komodo completed her Initiative training, she was assigned to Arizona, as a part of the Desert Stars team''Avengers: The Initiative'' #12. She and the rest of her new team fought during during the Skrull invasion. When the new 3-D Man (Delroy Garrett Jr.) and the Skrull Kill Krew arrive and identify team member the Blacksmith as a Skrull, Komodo helps them fight and kill the Skrull infiltrator. As the rest of the Desert Stars team was incapacitated during the fight, Komodo leaves with the 3-D Man and the Skull Kill Krew to travel to Nevada to help Hardball's team and find the Skrull infiltrators on the other Initiative teams. After the invasion, Hardball becomes the new leader of HYDRA and leaves the Initiative''Avengers: The Initiative Special'' #1. Komodo insists on accompanying the Shadow Initiative to take down Hardball in Madripoor.Avengers: The Initiative #20 When the group arrive, Komodo is depowered when Hardball fires a S.P.I.N. tech dart at her, and she is abandoned by her retreating teammatesAvengers: The Initiative #23. Komodo is held in a HYDRA cell, and later freed by the returning Shadow Initiative.Avengers: The Initiative #24 Komodo later became part of the new Initiative ran by Norman Osborn and the Taskmaster, filed with villains posing as heroes. However, she became disillusioned when the latter released Hardball for assisting in repelling Blastaar from Prison 42. Releasing that the villains were trying to break her spirit and make her conform, Komodo decided to resign from the Initiative, at the cost of being depowered. She then joined up with the Avengers Resistance to help them agains the corrupt Initiative. | Powers = Can take a lizard-form at will. Komodo possesses an accelerated healing factor derived from the Lizard serum created by Dr. Curt Connors (Lizard). The serum was created from lizard DNA in an attempt to create a serum capable of granting humans the regenerative properties of lizards. However, unlike Dr. Connors, who successively grew back his arm (but in the process became a monstrous lizard bent on destroying all mammals), Komodo improved the serum, so that it would merely grant her the regenerative properties Dr. Connors desired. The extent of her healing factor is unknown, but it is shown she is able to regenerate lost limbs in seconds. She also possesses razor-sharp claws on each of her fingers. | Abilities = | Strength = | Weakness = Melati lost both her legs at some point prior to gaining her powers. Though her legs regenerate in lizard form, whenever she takes human form, she loses them once more, and thus has less mobility as a human. Also, Melati may unconsciously revert to human form when extremely exhausted. Additionally, Melati has an intense fear of being depowered, a fear that has on at least one occasion been successfully employed against her. Also, she is vulnerable to S.P.I.N. tech nanites, which revert her to her human form. | Equipment = | Transportation = Sometimes employs a jet-pack. | Weapons = | Notes = * Curt Connors has said that she "perfected" his own serum for her DNA. Presumably this means she's fairly intelligent and at least attained some college work. * Later, in the Heroic Age: Superheros issue, Steve Rogers mentioned how he felt her scientific expertise would be a valuable asset to the superhero community. | Trivia = | Links = }} Category:Regeneration Category:Trained by Taskmaster Category:Reptilian Form Category:No Legs Category:Scaly Skin Category:Claws Category:Tail Category:Fins Category:Prehensile Tail Category:Pointed Ears Category:Fangs Category:Sega - Captain America Category:50-State Initiative members Category:Mutates Category:Human/Animal Hybrids